Part Two – London
We arrived in London at St. Pancras station with only a
slight delay due to some snow on the track prior to crossing through the
Chunnel . After a bit of walking we found our AuntieL and CousinC! It was
joyful reunion drive back to their home near Windsor full of chatter and back
seat adjusting.
On our first day in the UK, we headed over to Mercedes Benz
World at Brookland, where the kids took a ride with a professional driver
around the track. This ride took them through the entire handling circuit and
saw them reach speeds of over 100mph prior to heading into the wet track! That
was where the real fun began as their driver said “Let’s give the Mums a wave”
as they began doing donuts in several inches of water on the circular part of
the track! To say it was a memorable ride for the kids is an understatement....Thanks for a great adventure AuntieL and for the AMAZING post trip pasta bake lunch CousinR!
Day two we headed into London proper and went to the Tower
of London. Our first stop was Trafalgar Square where all four kids climbed the
lions just as AuntieL and I had done as kids. However, now as the mothers,
those lions are really very high up, the granite under them is really very
hard, it seemed a bit scary that we had done it and that we were now letting
our children do it!
Next we hope the
tube to the Tower of London where we enjoyed seeing the many historical
incarnations of the sight: as a castle, a working town, the Royal Mint, and armory.
It was nice to show the kids that this
sight has served as far more than just a prison for those no longer in the King’s
favour. The highlight of the visit to the Tower of London was seeing the crown
jewels. Our final stop of the day was a visit to Hamleys Toy shop. Five floors
of toy wonder! A great way to cap off a fun day.
We enjoyed much time just hanging out with our cousins in Egham, walking around the nearby Royal Holloway’s (University of London) spectacular grounds, going to Windsor and CubJ learned how to use a lawn mower from his CousinC! I especially enjoyed cooking with my sister. We made dumplings, bbq pork buns, this hot curried fruit (sounds gross to a non-curry lover, but is VERY good with ham), fresh tortillas and lots of other tasty treats. It is amazing how joyful cooking with someone else can make an everyday event. For SparkJ, what could be better than hanging out with your CousinR who also has a large collection of Snowmen and has bought you a brand new one to add to your collection.
For your second day trip into London, we went to Lord’s
Cricket Field the home of MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), the world’s largest
cricket brand and the keeper of the laws of Cricket. It is like visiting
Wrigley Field or golfing Pebble Beach or
St. Andrews ... Our tour was very interesting. We saw all of the grounds,
SparkJ sat in the spot where HRH Queen Elizabeth II sits when she watches a
match, the dressing rooms with all of the legendary players who have achieved
crickets greatest feats names are on the walls, stood on the balcony where the
players can watch the match, sat in the commentators booths and saw the all
important Ashes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes
the Stanley Cup of Cricket for Australia and England.
Next, we were off to Buckingham Palace. As we were walking
up to the Palace, we came through the lovely Canada Gate which was very moving
as it does truly embody the respect that so many Canadians have for our sovereign.
We got a lovely view of the Palace, while the Queen was working and enjoyed
watching the guards. CubJ was quite excited to see the golden statue of Queen
Victoria which stands just in front of the palace. It did not disappoint!
·
We were greatly impressed by all of the Egyptian
artifacts in the British Museum’s collection. Having been to Egypt, I can
honestly say that the Museum does an outstanding job of representing all of the
items in their collection in a respectful way. The one thing that I did think
that was in this age of Imax films, HD TV, on line content, Wikipedia etc and
all of our abilities to travel anywhere in the world from the comfort of a
computer, that having these mummies in museums around the world is not really
necessary anymore. For the first time, I really thought about how these people
had been laid to rest by their loved ones with the expectation that they would
remain there for all eternity, and yet they are half way around the world on
display for all to see. Strange how your perspective changes as our
technological access to the world increases.
·
I really
enjoyed showing the kids how Earl Elgin’s marbles and cast of the Parthenon
were where their favourite sculpture from the Louvre had once stood. Again,
while the British Museum has done an extraordinary job preserving these marble frieze
sections, I did give pause to think about the Greek government’s continued
efforts to have the marbles repatriated.
Without the casts of the other sections
of this frieze and the drawing by a French artist in the 1600’s we would have
little idea of just how spectacular the work of so many craftsman in pre 436 BC
was. They are a spectacular sight to behold, especially having just seen Winged
Victory aka Nike in Paris.
·
The Rosetta Stone was even more crowded than the
Mona Lisa had been! The kids thought it was interesting and I had forgotten
just how impressive it is to see in person.
·
The Bog Man exhibit was under renovation so we instead
saw the impressive hauls of the bogs from early British Roman times. Seeing all
of those golden, bronze and pewter items that had been hidden or sacrificed in
these bogs which had perfectly preserved them in their acidic anaerobic environment
was really neat. It is so interesting to see all of the skills in creating such
detailed tools or coins with such rudimentary (by today’s standards) tools.
·
We happened through a wonderful display of time
keepers throughout history which wetted our appetite for a trip to Greenwich
and was of particular interest to CubJ who is developing a special affection
for watches.
Our time at the British Museum was spectacular! The quality of collections on display is
outstanding. The sheer volume of information that you can learn in any one trip
is over whelming and that would only be a tiny percentage of what could be
learned if you had a lifetime to visit. Most impressively, the majority of the
museum collection is on display to the public for FREE! Imagine, some of the
greatest archeological finds in history, masters works of art and as much
information to be learned as on Wikipedia all available to everyone for free if
you can get there. It was an amazing way
to spend a few hours and we all highly recommend a trip to this museum.
After the museum, it was time to tour the exterior of Parliament,
listen to Big Ben chime, and to gaze in awe at Westminster Abbey. We greatly
enjoyed taking in these sights. The impressiveness of the architecture is
something to behold.
Our final stop of the day was to ride the London Eye, the
giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the river Thames. It was a lovely way to wrap
up our day in London seeing all of the sights light up in the night from high
over head. While it is an incredibly touristy thing to do, it was wonderful as
it was on the top of the kids list of things to do in London!
We really enjoyed the chance to go to the park with our
cousins and to the Great Park which includes the Great Walk (10km long pathway which
is only open to foot traffic) which leads up to Windsor Castle. We also toured
the Royal Air Force memorial, had a lovely brunch at the Game Keepers cottage
and enjoyed a tasty dinner in Windsor which took us past the Queen’s weekend
Palace! I must say, Windsor Castle is very impressively large and is home to
the world’s oldest continuously used kitchen, over 1000 years! Imagine how many dishes have been washed, how
many loaves of bread have been baked and all of the meat that has been roasted
in a millennium!
To celebrate UncleD’s birthday, we spent the day in Greenwich
which was both interesting and very educational. We learned about the history
of Greenwich being the seat of royal power for a time, the birth place of King Henry
the Eighth, Queen Elizabeth the First and Queen Mary, it’s time as a home for
sailors injured in royal service, as the seat of standard time and longitudinal
line zero aka the Prime Meridian! While the Cutty Sark, one of the world’s
fastest tea clipper ships, the last built was not yet reopened after its post
fire renovations it was quite impressive.
While touring the Greenwich observatory was the main reason
for our visit, one of the most impressive things that we visited was the Great
Painted Hall. I imagine it would be quite comical to snap pictures of visitors
who walk through the door and have their mouths fall open in awe at the great
paintings covering every surface in the Great Painted Hall. http://www.ornc.org/visit/attractions/painted-hall
We can assure you that the name is neither a misnomer nor an exaggeration. It
could be one of the most impressive representations of trompe l’oeil that I
have ever seen let alone the largest.
The Royal Observatory was very educational for me as I really understood the incredible value that longitude brought to our world and that it changed the course of the British Empire. For the LittleJ’s, I could see that they got to understand longitude in a three dimensional way with its everyday impact as opposed to memorizing the definition. While in Greenwich, one poses with one foot on either side of the Prime Meridian so that they are in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres at the same time. Hilariously, as we seven, along with a dozen or so others are doing this, CubJ starts balancing himself exactly on top of the prime meridian. I of course am wondering what on earth he is doing and am about to point out that his feet are blocking the green laser light shining along the meridian when he smiles from ear to ear and announces “look, I am in NO hemisphere”! Well well well, out smarted by a ten year old again! It was a lovely way to spend a day and we highly recommend a trip to Greenwich.
On our last day, we went to the Royal Windsor Farm and had
lunch. The food was delicious! On our way
back, we went through Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed 1215. Interestingly,
by seeing this point, I have now seen all of the historical sights of American
independence from end to end: England, Boston, Philadelphia, Mount Vernon and
Washington DC. Rather ironic considering
how patriotically Canadian I am.
I must say that our Euro Trip 2012 to see our cousins was magnificent! We really enjoyed the hospitality of our
family in their lovely home, enjoying their daily life, seeing so many
historical sites, trying so many new things like Branston Pickles and most of
all, we will treasure the time together! Thank you so much 4G Family for making
our trip so memorable and pleasant!
CubJ and SparkJ, you were troopers on this trip. You were so
well behaved and engaged in the museums, you used your French beautifully to
great compliments and you really seemed to enjoy yourselves. Riding all of the
trains and pretending that we were the voice telling people to ”mind the gap”
was very fun, thank you for the great adventure! DaddyJ, the unsung hero of
these trips, thanks for making it all possible! I am so thankful that you
encouraged the three of us go on this adventure and for your reminders not to
miss out on the big or little things! Cheers to Euro Trip 2012
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